December 2004 - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Pete Turnbull" <pete(a)dunnington.u-net.com> ---snip--- > >No, I have a spare, but I would like to fix the bust one. It turns out >that the 2-button version, M-S34, widely used on Compaq PCs and things, >has the same PCB (but missing one microswitch, of course), and I think >I can acquire one of those. > Hi Pete I hope you carefully checked that there wasn't a broken wire in the cord. This is the most common cause of failure in these units. Dwight

20 years, 7 months

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Logitech mouse entrails

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 6 2004, 9:00, Stan Barr wrote: > Pete Turnbull said; > > Barely within the 10-year rule... Does anybody have a Logitech mouse > > model M-S35, possibly damaged mechanically but with working electronics > > (specifically the IC that does the work)? This model is a 3-button > > PS/2 Pilot mouse, OEMed by SGI, DEC, IBM, and probably others, and mine > > stopped working yesterday :-( > > Sorry, I'm using mine :-) Aren't 3-button meece getting hard to find > now...Maplin still have some cheap ones similar in design to the Logitech > but not as good - part no RY72P, about a couple of quid, if you need one > desperately. No, I have a spare, but I would like to fix the bust one. It turns out that the 2-button version, M-S34, widely used on Compaq PCs and things, has the same PCB (but missing one microswitch, of course), and I think I can acquire one of those. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

20 years, 7 months

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Veroboard trace cutting tool?

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "John Lawson" <jpl15(a)panix.com> > ---snip--- >PPS: Everyone on classiccmp who actually *has* any kind of milling machine >available, let alone on your premises - raise yer hands.... > Hi I have a tinky lathe with mill attachment. It can't do really wide stuff but I used it to mill the blocks I connected to an old SA400 frame to make my hole punch for hard sectored disk ( as seen at VCF ). Dwight

20 years, 7 months

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IBM Thinkpad 390 disks?

by ron.hudson＠sbcglobal.net

Any one have an IBM Thinkpad 390? I am building a DOS machine, and I need some of the drivers, I went to DRIVERGUIDE.COM and did not find them there. I went to IBM and found the names of the files, but they refused to upload. The files are supposedly at ftp.software.ibm.com but the directory they are supposed to be in appears to be empty. Files I need.... pctpbdos.exe and .txt PCMCIA drivers for DOS uttpdos.exe and .txt Utility Disk for DOS mdltbdos.exe and .txt Lucent winmodem drivers for DOS I have googled the filenames, but they lead back to either IBM or Driverguide. My DOS is stuck in 640x480 mode on an 800x600 screen. This makes an inch wide black border around the text-space. :^\ Anyone have an IBM 390 (mainframe style), I am trying to build menus and screens that look mainframish, I have already written a login program in turbo C that looks sort of mainframe-ish. are there any examples of mainframe screens on the internet? ??

20 years, 7 months

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DSSI DAT Unit on eBay.

by ken＠seefried.com

I noticed the following on eBay. Looks like a fairly swanky dual DAT tape unit with a DSSI interface. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=167&item=5144248734&r d=1

20 years, 7 months

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MicroVAX 3100 Questions.

by trash3＠splab.cas.neu.edu

I have the crimp tool and a few connectors left. I am in the US, so it might be less expensive for some people to have me make them. I am on vacation now, but I'll be back before Christmas. Joe Heck

20 years, 7 months

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Logitech mouse entrails

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

Barely within the 10-year rule... Does anybody have a Logitech mouse model M-S35, possibly damaged mechanically but with working electronics (specifically the IC that does the work)? This model is a 3-button PS/2 Pilot mouse, OEMed by SGI, DEC, IBM, and probably others, and mine stopped working yesterday :-( -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

20 years, 7 months

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Veroboard trace cutting tool?

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 5 2004, 17:06, John Lawson wrote: > PPS: Everyone on classiccmp who actually *has* any kind of milling machine > available, let alone on your premises - raise yer hands.... If a Unimat counts, or a Myford lathe with the extra slides, I do :-) -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

20 years, 7 months

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VAX 11/725

by msokolov＠ivan.Harhan.ORG

Brad Parker <brad(a)heeltoe.com> wrote: > You can boot bsd43 in 2mb of ram on a 730. Thanks for checking this, it's good to hear that this is still the case with current 4.3BSD-Quasijarus. MS

20 years, 7 months

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Interesting book

by wmaddox＠pacbell.net

I recently picked up an interesting book, entitled "The Logic Desgign of Computers: An Introduction", by M. Paul Chinitz. Mr. Chinitz was Director of Training at Univac from 1953 to 1956, and it shows -- even though this book was published in 1981. Seriously, the design style in the book is straight out of the 50's and 60's. Although the book makes numerous references to standard TTL logic components, he does just about everything with simple gates and RS flip-flops, and devotes space to such dated topics (for a book of its scope) as 1's complement arithmetic, serial arithmetic, and delay lines. Proponents of a straightforward fully-synchronous design style based on MSI, like Winkel, Prosser, and Mano, would be horrified to see students taught to gate clocks in 1981. The book uses a simple 8-bit 1-address architecture as an example, using a multiphase clocking scheme and RS flip-flops with preclear. All a wonderful throwback to the days when every gate and transistor counted. I picked up a copy at a swap meet, misplaced it, ordered another from an internet used bookseller, and then found my original copy. I thus now have an extra copy of this book. It is available for $5 plus shipping if anyone is interested. --Bill

20 years, 7 months

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Project finishing

by lists＠microvax.org

On Mon, 6 Dec 2004, Philip Pemberton wrote: > The only problem I found is that it's totally useless for dark-coloured > panels (or really anything that isn't metallic or white), because the > inks aren't particularly opaque. That and you can't print white lettering > onto the transparency :-/ In this case, print your graphics in an outlined, bubble manner - so lines become long, thin empty boxes. Paint in the gap in the center with Tipp-Ex (whiteout). Turn it over: nice, neat white lines! :D alex/melt

20 years, 7 months

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Intersil Microprocessor PDP Electronic IC Chip Databook

by rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com

<http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1247&item=5144412622 &rd=1> Joe

20 years, 7 months

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Hitachi 64180 Users Databook

by rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com

Nice item for those intersted in the SB-180 <http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1247&item=5144410189 &rd=1> Joe

20 years, 7 months

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Old Dos Programs

by r_a_feldman＠hotmail.com

Ron, Try: http://www.dosonly.net/ http://garbo.uwasa.fi/ http://www.filelibrary.com:8080/Contents/DOS/ http://www.opus.co.tt/dave/index.htm http://www.comatose.freeserve.co.uk/welcome.htm http://f.webring.com/hub?ring=dosnet Bob Message: 21 Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 19:19:26 -0800 From: Ron Hudson <ron.hudson(a)sbcglobal.net> Subject: Old Dos Programs To: Classic Computers <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <CDEC4A72-4347-11D9-B578-000393C5A0B6(a)sbcglobal.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed <snip> Any websites that provide old DOS programs for download? Thanks!

20 years, 7 months

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Project finishing, was Re: Veroboard trace cutting tool?

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 6 2004, 0:59, Philip Pemberton wrote: > In message <10412051910.ZM6157(a)mindy.dunnington.u-net.com> > Pete Turnbull <pete(a)dunnington.u-net.com> wrote: > > Spraymount. And the really strong stuff is called Hobbymount. > > Hm. I'll have to see if I can find that anywhere - all I managed to find was > the blue-can Spraymount and the red-can Photomount. I think I got it either in Office World or from CPC. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

20 years, 7 months

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Project finishing, was Re: Veroboard trace cutting tool?

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 5 2004, 18:50, Philip Pemberton wrote: > In message <41B34E1E.4B26208C(a)rain.org> > Marvin Johnston <marvin(a)rain.org> wrote: > > > Something that I have started using to help give projects a more > > "professional" look is clear adhesive label stock for the case/cover. > > [ snippety snip ] > > I personally use inkjet transparencies. Print a mirrored version of the > layout onto the back (matted) side of the transparency. Spray the > transparency (or the case if there's a square display cutout) with 3M > PhotoMount adhesive, wait 15 seconds (IIRC), then stick the transparency to > the panel. Cut off any excess plastic and you're done. Exactly what I did when I made spare unit plugs for an RL02, several years ago (except I used laser transparencies). > As far as drilling is concerned, use the non-permanent version of Photomount > (can't remember what it's called, though) Spraymount. And the really strong stuff is called Hobbymount. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

20 years, 7 months

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MicroVAX 3100 Questions.

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 5 2004, 17:48, Scott Stevens wrote: > On Sun, 5 Dec 2004 13:01:29 -0500, Pat wrote: > > >On Sunday 05 December 2004 06:43, Pete Turnbull wrote: > >> Better than hacking RJ45s would be to hack RJ11 (6P/6C) plugs. > >> They're very common, about a quarter of the price of MMJs, and there > >> are low-cost crimp tools available. > > > >Agreed, the only difference between an RJ12/RJ11 and MMJ is the tab > >location, which can be easily sliced off (though that usually makes for > >a loose fitting connector). > > > >> For anyone in the UK who needs *a few*, I believe I still have a box > >> of adapter cables for Emulex terminal servers. These are short > >> (about 8-10 inches) flat cables with an MMJ on one end and an RJ45 on > >> the other. You can have a few for the cost of postage. > > > >And if anyone in the US wants one, I can do up to, say, 25ft MMJ->MMJ or > >MMJ->RJ(12/45) cables for $5 + shipping. I had a few takers last time > >I did this, and they seemed to be happy with my handiwork. : ) > > > > If you made something like this, would the RJ-45 end plug into one of > the serial adaptors that I got from the back of a rackmount US > Robotics modem box? It's one of those plugs that adapts from RJ-45 > jack to a DB-25 male plug. Pat can tell you how his cables are wired, but the easiest way, especially with flat cable, is pin-to-opposite-pin (ie, bearing in mind that an MMJ has 6 pins and an RJ45 has 8, it goes MMJ-1 to RJ45-7, ...., MMJ-6 to RJ45-2). This happens to be the way DEC made most of their MMJ cables. DEC also used a standard signal arrangement, with the two centre pins being ground, the two next to those being Rx and Tx, and the outermost two being the handshakes. That meant a null-modem was just a question of plugging in the cable between console port and terminal. The reason I mention this is that *some* RJ45-DE9/DB25 adapters and *some* serial-on-RJ45 ports use a similar convention; Suns and Cisco kit tend to do so, and some terminal servers, but not all. Take a look at the YOST page: http://yost.com/Computers/RJ45-serial/ and also at Celeste Stokely's serial port pages: http://www.stokely.com/unix.serial.port.resources/A-B-Ycablepinout.html There is one other quite common method, though; we use it at York, and I've seen it in several other places. Based on the assumption that we only need Rx and Tx, no handshaking, we wire Tx to RJ45-1, Rx to RJ45-3, and ground to RJ45-2 and RJ45-6. Why? Because 1+2 and 3+6 are twisted pairs in Cat5 and they are the pins used by Ethernet cables, so it means we can use standard Ethernet Cat5 cables for straight-through connections, and standard Ethernet crossover cables as, well, crossovers (I couldn't really call them null-modem as they don't carry handshake signals). -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

20 years, 7 months

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MicroVAX 3100 Questions.

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 5 2004, 11:16, Gordon JC Pearce wrote: > Scott Stevens wrote: > > 4. What is the console on this hardware? It has the three serial > > ports on RJ-type connectors, and from what I gather this is a TTY-only > > machine, no framebuffer, etc. > > I made a connector for my DECStation 3100 by grinding bits off an RJ45 > connector until it fitted. Brutal but effective. Prepare to lose a few > RJ45s in the process - you'd be better with your own crimping tool and a > bag of plugs. > > Better still would be the proper DEC connector, but I couldn't find any > of those. You can still get them from Farnell in the UK (and presumably in the States etc) and CPC in the UK. Since I'm sitting here with the Farnell cat open for Ethan, I looked them up. Stewart P/No 937-SP-3066R-OST for stranded round cable is Farnell 429-788 Stewart P/No 937-SP-3066-OST for stranded flat/oval cable is Farnell 429-790 Stewart P/No 940-SP-3066R-OST for solid round cable is Farnell 429-843 Stewart P/No 940-SP-3066-OST for solid flat/oval cable is Farnell 429-855 The catalogue numbers are for packs of ten, and they cost UKP4 or so per pack (quite expensive nowadays). Of course, the real problem is getting the crimp tool. MMJ tools tend to be expensive, although if you have one of those multipurpose crimping pliers with interchangeable dies for blue/red/yellow insulated connectors, BNCs, RJ45, RJ11, etc you can get MMJ dies for about UKP12. Better than hacking RJ45s would be to hack RJ11 (6P/6C) plugs. They're very common, about a quarter of the price of MMJs, and there are low-cost crimp tools available. For anyone in the UK who needs *a few*, I believe I still have a box of adapter cables for Emulex terminal servers. These are short (about 8-10 inches) flat cables with an MMJ on one end and an RJ45 on the other. You can have a few for the cost of postage. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

20 years, 7 months

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Veroboard trace cutting tool?

by technobug＠comcast.net

On Sun, 5 Dec 2004 Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks(a)gmail.com> noted: > On Sun, 5 Dec 2004 11:26:47 GMT, Pete Turnbull > <pete(a)dunnington.u-net.com> wrote: >> So does the genuine Veroboard cutter. It's just a stub drill mounted >> in a blue plastic handle, and its only advantage is that it's easier >> to >> hold. There's quite a good picture at >> http://www.zen22142.zen.co.uk/Prac/vero_circ/vero.htm > > Ah... I was under the impression that the cutting edge had a > substantially different angle fro a drill (like describing a 180 > degree arc between the cutting surfaces rather than, say, 150 > degrees). > > I guess this picture... > > http://www.zen22142.zen.co.uk/Prac/vero_circ/8.jpg > > .... really shows the divot one gets from the real tool. > > I might just have to just use the drill press for this task (taking > advantage of the stop to keep from drilling _though_ the resin board > ;-) > > The tool looks handy for more than a few cuts, though. I wouldn't > want to try just holding a bit bare-handed - lots of hand cramps and > slips probably. > > [...] > Thanks for the website tip... nice pix. > > -ethan In the past I used a vector pad cutter (a great tool for doing breadballs) to cut the traces on Vero/Vector boards. The cutter has a guide pin to guide an annular cutter. Generally used to isolate a pad on a blank PC board, but works great for cutting the traces on protoboard. Since it is a mill-like cutter, it does not generate a divit like a drill bit. A while back after being deprived of access to this tool (read downsized...), I decided to pick one up for myself. The part is listed in Digi-key under the Vector Board section. However, the sticker shock was extreme. As an alternate, I found that they make mills of similar design for cutting various sizes of o-ring grooves and are priced within reach. As a cheap alternate, a simple end mill of the right diameter in a drill press should do the job admirably. CRC

20 years, 7 months

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Veroboard trace cutting tool?

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

Does anyone know where I can locate a genuine tool for severing the traces on veroboard? I know I can make do with a drill bit, but that puts a tapered hole in the resin board underneath. One thing that's cheaper in NZ is, strangely enough, veroboard. The few pieces I found in the States were priced much higher than protoboards used to be at Rat Shack (when you could find them). I occasionally run into a project from a UK experimenter, and have wanted to do their designs without doing 100% point-to-point. I'll probably bring home a couple of panels so I have a chance to do that (for my own stuff, I'll probably always do point-to-point). -ethan

20 years, 7 months

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Veroboard trace cutting tool?

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 5 2004, 16:11, Joe R. wrote: > > The thing about the Veroboard tools is that they have a central locating > >pin that fits into the hole, Ones I've seen don't, but... > Good for Veroboard. If that's what you want THEN GO BUY IT! But Ethan > asked for a substitute and they do not make counterbores with guide pins > small enough to fit into a wire hole on a circuit board. ...Yes, they do, I've got some. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

20 years, 7 months

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Looking for a place to get small(-ish) SCSI drives

by cb＠mythtech.net

>Anyone know where those stacks went? Probably the same place my stack went... the dumpster after I was unsuccessful for months in giving them away. I probably tossed 50+ drives in the range of 40-500 MB. All mine would have been pulled from old Macs. I would suggest you look for those to get the drives. You should be able to find 68k macs for free or darn near it. Another place to look is the LowEndMac Swap list. You can probably put out a request for small drives and get more than you would want for little money (lowendmac.com check the email lists) -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

20 years, 7 months

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Masscomp boards

by julesrichardsonuk＠yahoo.co.uk

I grabbed a few pics of some of the multibus boards in our masscomp earlier: http://www.moosenet.demon.co.uk/temp/comps/masscomp CPU, FPP, disk controller, and one of the two memory boards (along with Witchy's arm :) Interesting that the CPU board has both 68000 and 68010 chips on it. Having done some head-scratching, each memory board *I think* is 1MB plus parity (so 2MB in total in the system) Disk interface is ST506; turns out there's a pair of Micropolis drives in it (and I've forgotten the model numbers, but Witchy might remember). Also floppy and tape interface on the same board. FPP board main IC is an AM29L516, plus there are 11 AM2901CPC 40-pin chips... Still no sign of keyboard and mouse for it though... cheers Jules

20 years, 7 months

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Computer equipment in Queens, New York (USA)

by dan＠ekoan.com

I received the following list of equipment looking for a new home. It's located in Queens, New York. If you have an interest in any of this and can pick it up in person (no shipping), send me an e-mail off list and I'll put you in contact with the owner. > * A Packard Bell Force 50-CD computer with 50 MHz Intel Microprocessor, > 340 MB hard drive, 4 MB RAM, and Windows 3.1 operating system. Works great. > >* A Tandy 1000 PC with dual 5 1/4 floppy disk drive, and all the >peripherals, including keyboard, Tandy RGB Color Monitor CM-4, manuals, >software, cables, and Radio Shack TRS-80 dot matrix printer (also with >manual). All work great, despite their age. > >* Hayes Smartmodem 2400. > >* An Okidata Microline 192 dot matrix printer. > >* A Canon BJC-250 printer. > >* Software on 5 1/4 floppy disks: >-- Wordstar (and manual) >-- DOS 5.0 (and manual) >-- WordPerfect 5.1 >-- PerfectWriter >-- PrintShop >-- Tetris >-- Wheel of Fortune >-- Zork >-- Jeopardy. Cheers, Dan

20 years, 7 months

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: "misc pc boards" found

by swtpc6800＠comcast.net

der Mouse, Here is the information on the The Micro Works B-08 2708 EPROM Programmer. http://www.swtpc.com/mholley/MicroWorks/B09_Index.htm Michael Holley www.swtpc.com/mholley

20 years, 7 months

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Project finishing, was Re: Veroboard trace cutting tool?

by marvin＠rain.org

Something that I have started using to help give projects a more "professional" look is clear adhesive label stock for the case/cover. It is trivial these days to do a layout on a computer, so just take that layout and print it on the adhesive label stock. It is a lot less expensive that silkscreening! If the layout needs protection, just add another layer of clear adhesive label stock over it. I've had some trouble finding the label stock locally, but the local Kinko's (a copying service store in the US) does carry it. I use a sharp X-Acto knife to cut out the holes after the label has been put into place. http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/ provides the software to do somewhat inexpensive front panels including holes, slots, and engraving. The front panels can be ordered online from their software. I've also used their software to do the layouts for the label stock printing out using "wiremode". > Ethan Dicks wrote: > > > Ah... I was under the impression that the cutting edge had a > > substantially different angle fro a drill (like describing a 180 > > degree arc between the cutting surfaces rather than, say, 150 > > degrees). > > My tip: > > - using a sharp knife, cut two cuts in the trace > - use the soldering iron to heat and remove the small fraction of copper > between the two cuts > > Advantage #1: you don't need to buy anything > Advantage #2: it hardly damages the ressin > Advantage #3: you can even remove the connection between two pads > Advantage #4: You can make arbitrarly large areas blank; could be > usefull for isolation areas > > Believe me, this works. Even on epoxy, but just as well on pertinax. > > Bert

20 years, 7 months

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Veroboard trace cutting tool?

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 5 2004, 6:55, Ethan Dicks wrote: > I guess this picture... > > http://www.zen22142.zen.co.uk/Prac/vero_circ/8.jpg > > ... really shows the divot one gets from the real tool. Yup, that's typical. > The tool looks handy for more than a few cuts, though. I wouldn't > want to try just holding a bit bare-handed - lots of hand cramps and > slips probably. Exactly. Given the cost of the genuine tool, I use a pin vice (of which I have several) to hold the drill bit. However, if I want it to look neater (I meant to mention this in my previous message) -- though goodness knows who would care -- I have been known to use a scalpel or craft knife to cut the copper either side of a hole and then lift off the small redundant piece. I've also done that between holes, when I wanted to use two adjacent holes but isolated from each other. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

20 years, 7 months

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Looking for a place to get small(-ish) SCSI drives

by marvin＠rain.org

How small is "small"? I have a dozen or so 100 MB IBM SCSI HDs that were pulled for an upgrade ... many years ago :). > I fool around with a lot of systems that want small (by today's > standards) 50-pin SCSI drives. A few years ago you couldn't walk > around the streets of Palo Alto without tripping over big stacks of > 500MB drives. These days, though, the stacks are made out of 9GB SCA > drives -- far too large for my needs, and often far too large to be > recognized by the computers I fool around with. But drives smaller > than that are suddenly "rare" and "expensive", $30 or $40 for any > SCSI drive under 9GB at a lot of resellers I've visited lately. > > Anyone know where those stacks went? Are small drives just impossible > to come by for less than $30 now? > > -Seth

20 years, 7 months

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Dragon32 Power-Supply

by dave04a＠dunfield.com

Can anyone give me the pinout and details of the power supply used on the Dragon32 (have a machine with no supply) - It has a 9-pin 'D' connector on the back of the machine for the power input! Searched and found some hardware info, but not the power information... Regards, Dave -- dave04a (at) Dave Dunfield dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com com Vintage computing equipment collector. http://www.parse.com/~ddunfield/museum/index.html

20 years, 7 months

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KM11 maintenance module

by aek＠spies.com

Why not just make a paddle card with one of the USB parallel bit wigglers, and have the thing totally virtual on a laptop? You could even line a bunch of them up on the screen if you want to probe more than one device at a time, or rearrage the bits so they make more sense logically?

20 years, 7 months

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FYI: identity theft

by jfoust＠threedee.com

Bound to happen! A few odd charges showed up on my business credit card. I caught it quickly, then went into gumshoe mode. The largest charge was to Staples.com. Someone knew all my info: name, address, credit card number, three-digit code from the back, so Staples processed the order. They had the new iPod sent to a fellow in Los Angeles. Said fellow was surprised to hear my card had been used: Why, he'd recently bought an iPod on eBay at a great price. The seller wanted to be paid via eGold.com, and had sent detailed instructions as how to send money to an exchange company that would convert dollars to eGold, which could be used to pay him. I tracked down several other eBay buyers who had the same experience with the seller. In three of four cases, the buyers somehow screwed up the payment process, yet had received their goods (directly from Staples or BestBuy) in the same fashion. Meanwhile the seller has disappeared: Yahoo email unanswered, fake phones and addresses. This may never happen with classic goods, of course, but you can see how the scam will work with new goods. It also makes me wonder if some of the "how to get stuff for free" packages on eBay aren't promoting this sort of scam. You can see how thieves could make a lot of money, converting credit card info to cash. - John

20 years, 7 months

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Veroboard trace cutting tool?

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 5 2004, 13:31, Bert Thomas wrote: > > However, if I want it to look neater (I meant to mention this in my > > previous message) -- though goodness knows who would care -- I have > > been known to use a scalpel or craft knife to cut the copper either > > side of a hole and then lift off the small redundant piece. I've also > > done that between holes, when I wanted to use two adjacent holes but > > isolated from each other. > > Aaarggghhh, <undo><undo><undo><undo><undo>... ;-) Why "undo"? Great minds obviously think alike, and two posts just reinforce the value of the advice :-) -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

20 years, 7 months

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Veroboard trace cutting tool?

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 5 2004, 7:19, Ethan Dicks wrote: > On Mon, 6 Dec 2004 01:00:30 +1300, Dave Brown <tractorb(a)ihug.co.nz> wrote: > > Ethan > > RS (RadioSpares) Stock No. 543-535- $NZ19.50. I've been meaning to get > > another one myself although I've tended to use 'blob' board more often > > these days. > > RS? I've heard it referenced on the list... is that the name of a > particular brand of shop? Used to stand for Radio Spares, later Radiospares, RS Components. A phone/mail-order trade supplier, originally specialising in parts for radios and TVs, but now selling everything from resistors to car park furniture. They had a separate sell-to-the-public offshoot called Electromail for a while, but now RS will take almost anyone's money (I think you might need to open an account, though). Lots of electronics shops will order RS parts for you. Their paper catalogue is 1cm wider than Farnell's (16cm as opposed to 15cm). http://rswww.com -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

20 years, 7 months

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Significant finds

by rcini＠optonline.net

Hi: A gentleman in Arizona contacted me about divesting himself of his S100 stuff, including most of my missing BYTE magazines (and 2 copies of Issue #1), the entire run of Micro Cornucopia (which I haven't received yet), a few Kilobauds and Interface Ages. He has also sent me a SSM VB1B video board, a Computer Systems Inc. Clock/Calendar board, an IMS PIC-8 Rev 3 interface board and a Cromemco Dazzler board set. Supposedly there's lots more, including tons of software on 8" disks and two complete S100 systems. Back to the Micro Cornucopia. I've heard of the name, but what was the focus of it? Regarding my BYTE collection, with these additional issues, I have nearly a complete set from 9/75 through 1/88. So far, my "interesting article" database has about 700 entries. At some point, I will make this available on my Web site and if someone needs an article reprint, I can do that. I thought I'd mention the issues of BYTE I'm still missing in case anyone has dupes: most of 1976 (except 1, 3, 4), 7/77, 6/80, 2/82, 1/86, and 3/86. Rich Rich Cini Collector of classic computers Build Master for the Altair32 Emulation Project Web site: http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/ /************************************************************/

20 years, 7 months

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Veroboard trace cutting tool?

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 5 2004, 5:57, Ethan Dicks wrote: > Does anyone know where I can locate a genuine tool for severing the > traces on veroboard? I know I can make do with a drill bit, but that > puts a tapered hole in the resin board underneath. So does the genuine Veroboard cutter. It's just a stub drill mounted in a blue plastic handle, and its only advantage is that it's easier to hold. There's quite a good picture at http://www.zen22142.zen.co.uk/Prac/vero_circ/vero.htm You can probably get one from Farnell in NZ. The part number from the (UK, Farnell-In-One) catalogue is 329-538. It looks similar but not identical in my catalogue to the one in the CPC catalogue, which is interesting because Farnell and CPC are part of the same group and share stock. Same price, though, UKP 6.60 (and the NZ price is NZ$25.94). http://nz.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/searchPage2.jsp?Ntt=spot+face+cutter… Vero Electronics is now a subsidiary of APW: http://www.apw.com/aboutAPW/familiarBrands/vero.jsp -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

20 years, 7 months

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IBM 3270 interfacing?

by toresbe＠ifi.uio.no

Does anyone know anything about the protocol that the IBM 3270 terminals uses on the BNC ports labelled I/O? Is there any possibility of hooking this up to anything modern? -- Tore S Bekkedal <toresbe(a)ifi.uio.no>

20 years, 7 months

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"misc pc boards" found

by mouse＠Rodents.Montreal.QC.CA

I was going through various miscellaney and found a box labeled "MISC PC BOARDS". On opening it up, I found a number of boards which may of interest to the list. With one possible exception, they are all up for grabs, on the same conditions as my last pile of stuff: cover shipping and it's yours (including free if you pick it up in Montreal). Except where noted, this is all "no obvious physical damage, but completely untested and has been sitting idle for some unknown number of years, probably at least ten". First, the board I suspect I want to keep - I have some questions about it, if anyone can answer them. It's apparently from an outfit called MICRO WORKS, and is a "2708 EPROM BURNER". It has onboard a 6821, two 7474s, a 7406, a 555, a 7805, a 7904, a 7812, a 3904 transistor, various two-terminal devices (caps, resistors, diodes, a LED), and a switch (apparently SPDT used as SPST) marked "HV OFF" and "HV ON". Oh, and a rather nice 24-pin ZIF DIP socket. It has a card-edge connector that makes it look as though it goes with the SwTPc stuff listed below - its only 30-pin, but has the same pin pitch and blocked pin. Basically, what I want to know is, how much hackery would it take to turn this into something I could attach to, say, a parallel port, and use to burn EPROMs? Next, the stuff that's definitely up for grabs. Of these, to start, four Wang boards: A board in the shape of a rectangle about 20"x13" with a rectangle of about 12"x5" cut out of one corner - or, equivalently, a rectangle of 20"x8" overlapped with a rectangle of 8"x13" (where in all four cases the dimensions are in the same order). On the 12" edge there is a connector that looks physically like a 3U VME connector to my (not very used to VME) eye. On the 8" edge there is a DB25F, what I might call (quite possibly improperly) a DIN-4, and a 36-pin Centronics. At the end of the 20" edge farthest from the 8" edge, there are two 34-pin (17x2) 0.1"-pitch connectors of the sort I learned to call Bergs. According to the solder side, this is an "8221-R2" and bears the Wang name; on the component side, I also see the Wang logo and the markings "8221- -R2M2", where the number 14, or perhaps the letter A, has been hand-written into the gap, and the last 2 is in a different font from the rest. Following that is a box into which has been handwritten J05796. Silkscreened - not part of the foil pattern - I see "CPU/SYSTEM BOARD" and "8221-R1 SILK SCREEN". There is one empty socket, a 40-pin DIP; the other seven sockets are filled. Based on the datecodes I see on the soldered-in chips, this dates from mid-'82. A board which I speculate is a backplane to go with the previous board. It bears no active components, only connectors and resistors. It has a connector physically compatible with the VME-like connector on the above board, five 86-conductor card-edge connectors (43 pins on each side, with approximately S-100 pin spacing), and three connectors that look like power connectors: one each of five, three, and two pins. In the foil patterns on the compoent side, this is marked COMP. SIDE 8241- -R?M and the Wang logo (where ? may actually be intended to be a 0). In the foil on the solder side I see the Wang logo and 8241-R? MADE IN USA CIRCUIT SIDE This baord is about 6"x7". Another Wang board. This one is about 8"x12" and has two card-edge connectors, one physically compatible with the 86-pin connectors on the previous board and one 20-pin one with much narrower spacing on the other edge. It has what appears to be a back-panel connector with a metal shield on the 8" edge (which is not included in the 12" dimension - it adds maybe 5/8") bearing a DA15F connector. This baord is marked "8223- -R?M" on the component side and "8223-R?" on the foil side, and has numerous patches applied in the form of etch run cuts and soldered-on wires. Almost everything is soldered in, but there is one socket, bearing a crystal oscillator marked "19.200 MHZ". Another board which looks very much like 8241 board above which I speculated was a backplane, except that instead of the VMEish connector it has a sixth 86-pin card-edge connector. It is marked as 8229 instead of 8241, but otherwise looks basically identical to the 8241 described above. Three boards which I expect are from an SwTPc. Each bears the SwTPc logo somewhere in the component-side etch. One I feel sure is a CPU board. It bears many DIPs, all socketed (and all sockets populated), a 7805 and four discrete transistors or similar devices soldered in, and miscellanous two-terminal devices (resistors, caps, a crystal, maybe some others I don't recognize). The "big chip" is an MC6800P; I also see an HM46810P, an MC14411P, and a chip labeled with the motorola logo and the text "SWTBUG 1.0" and a "7748" which I imagine is a datecode. Everything else is in the 8- to 20-pin range. On the card edge is a 50-pin single-row connector with slightly over 2.5 pins to the centimetre, with one pin space filled with plastic. A board with 39 empty DIP sockets (mostly 16-pin, at least one 14-pin), no filled sockets, and two 7805s apparently connected in parallel. Next to the SwTPc logo is the text "MP-M". I suspect the 7805s are intended to have heatsinks which the board has been robbed of, probably at the same time as the socketed chips were removed. This has a card-edge connector apparently identical to that on the CPU board (just above). A board which I feel sure is memory. It's marked "MP-8M2" and has a SPDT switch with the positions marked "WRT. PROTECT" and "NORMAL"; next to one row of 8 DIPs is "UPPER 4K" and next to another is "LOWER 4K". It also has two 7805s, each driving power to some of the chips - their outputs aren't wired together. There is also a DIP bank of four switches. Finally, two miscellaneous boards. One I suspect of being an S-100 prototyping board. It has a 7805 and numerous power decoupling caps, a lot of uncomitted solder pads, and a 100-pin card-edge connector that looks like S-100 to my inexperienced eye. It is silk-screen labeled "CROMEMCO WRAP BOARD" on the component side and "CROMEMCO WWB-2" on the solder side. The other is a mystery to me. It looks like a module from a very early modular computer of some sort. It dates from the very early IC days, I would say - the days when an IC package would contain maybe five to ten transistors and not much else. It bears a logo that consists of the letters A and M, stacked with the A over the M, inside an octagon whose vertices are at (cos(k*pi/4),sin(k*pi/4)) - ie, turned 22.5? relative to stop-sign orientation. It has been robbed of one component, a transistor to go by the labeling ("Q5" on the component side), but I think everything else is present. /~\ The ASCII der Mouse \ / Ribbon Campaign X Against HTML mouse(a)rodents.montreal.qc.ca / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B

20 years, 7 months

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MicroVAX 3100 Questions.

by chenmel＠earthlink.net

Today at auction I acquired a MicroVAX 3100 system. It's my first VAX hardware. I don't know a lot about it and thought I would ask here for help. I put up a picture of the system on some personal webspace. The page is: http://sasteven.multics.org/MicroVAX/MicroVAX3100.html The system is a low-profile box, with one opening in the front face with a 5-1/4" form factor tape drive presently installed. There are free connectors and space inside for a single narrow SCSI drive. The system has two mezzazine-mounted memory cards inside and appears to have 16 megs of RAM on the cards. The model plate on back (one of the pictures on the page I put up) reads: Model- DV031DTA-A - A01 S/N- KA324TJ182 Some questions: 1. I notice on the Web that there is quite a bit of info about MicroVAX 3100 systems. I also see that there are a variety of models. Is there an easy way to figure out which one I have? 2. Would it be possible and/or work to replace the tape drive with a SCSI CD-ROM reader? I don't have a source for tapes. 3. Is it worth putting VMS on this box? It looks like it could run NetBSD as well. I also have McKusik's BSD archive CD set that he sells. Is there a flavor of vintage UNIX that I could put on the system? 4. What is the console on this hardware? It has the three serial ports on RJ-type connectors, and from what I gather this is a TTY-only machine, no framebuffer, etc. 5. Is there a thorough hardware reference for this machine out there on the net that I should get? I looked on the HP/Compaq site, and it appears that they pay a small amount of homage to the system, but without much substancial info. A hardware reference manual in PDF would be great. Any and all info would be appreciated. If there's a good site that I should be pointed to (there seems to be tons and tons of info out there, which results in Google pulling up a huge mass of stuff to weed through) instead of answering these specific questions, a pointer to it would be appreciated. Thanks, Scott.

20 years, 7 months

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Book score in NZ

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

Found a classic book at a used book shop - "Logic & Memory Experiments using TTL ICs, Book 2", Howard W. Sams & Co, 1979. The style is familiar - I'm sure I have other books in the series at home. I'm curious if anyone has "Book 1" and what's in it - book 2 is LED decoders, flip-flops, one-shots, and 1/4K - 16K SRAMs and EPROMs (2101s, 2708s, larger devices in similar families, etc.) Fun stuff to reminisce about - I remember reading books like these as a kid to take my fun beyond built computers like the PET. -ethan

20 years, 7 months

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VAX 11/725

by jeroen.van.hengstum＠hccnet.nl

Hello all, Recently I got a VAX 11/725, a small model VAX that was produced around 1983. I intend to try to boot this machine again after many years. - Does anyone have a 11/725? - Does anyone have 11/725 related documentation? - How do you check in a few steps with this computer whether it is still functioning properly? Thanks, Jeroen --

20 years, 7 months

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Wired running SGI Article

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

Wired is running an article that might be of interest to SGI enthusiasts. http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,65834,00.html They even had a couple links in there that I'm pretty I've never seen before. Zane -- -- | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator | | healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast | | | Classic Computer Collector | +----------------------------------+----------------------------+ | Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, | | PDP-10 Emulation and Zane's Computer Museum. | | http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |

20 years, 7 months

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PDP-1 spacewar

by brad＠heeltoe.com

Perhaps even cooler than a CADR emulator, a PDP-1 emulator which runs the original PDP-1 spacewar code: http://lcs.www.media.mit.edu/groups/el/projects/spacewar/ Very cool. Apparently the java code is an PDP-1 emulator. They wrote a PDP-1 assembler in perl. You have to smile. I think the screen should be round, however :-) -brad

20 years, 7 months

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"How to build a working digital computer" Book scans

by obsiprog＠gmail.com

Dear Sir, Hello, i recently saw an online post of an email list you signed up for, and was wondering if you could send me scans of the book, "How to build a working digital computer", images are fine, but a pdf file would be awesome! i really would like to reconstruct my very own paperclip computer, so i hope you will help, Thank you, Daniel Collotte

20 years, 7 months

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free giveaway: Televideo keyboard

by chenmel＠earthlink.net

In a box of keyboards I bought today there was a Televideo terminal keyboard. There are no model markings on it, it has a phone-cord sized RJ-style connector. I don't know what model of terminal it came from. First person to reply who will pay shipping can have it. I can 'crack it open' to see if there are model # markings on the circuit board if need be. Shipping will be from central Indiana. Scott

20 years, 7 months

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Who needs a Profile or Widget harddisk ?

by jos.mar＠bluewin.ch

Not that I have any spare ones, but look at this site for a description of a IDE to Profile/widget translator. http://john.ccac.rwth-aachen.de:8000/patrick/idefile.htm The website does not (yet) give full details. Please note that the project is not mine, we are just looking how much interest there is, therefore raise hands if interested in a PCB. Jos Dreesen

20 years, 7 months

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Upcoming Trip...

by vp＠cs.drexel.edu

Brad Parker <brad(a)heeltoe.com> wrote: > Wow. Did I just go through some sort of time warp? > > In my mail box are about 15 messages which are old. They start out on > 12/3 but then there are about 15 'repeats' and then 12/3 again. I had this happen to me (as the sender) when I restored a system from backup. The machine had a single disk drive which failed, so when the new disk drive arrived, I restored everything from a two month old backup. It was a piece of cake and the system was back to normal. Or so I thought! ... After a couple of days I started receiving messages like Brad's asking whether I had gone senile and started emailing people about deadlines that had already past etc. What happened was that when the backup was made, there were a bunch of emails in the mail queue and they were backed up along with everything else. Two months later when the backup was restored, sendmail found them in the mail queue and sent them along (again). **vp

20 years, 7 months

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CS/80 Information

by glen.slick＠gmail.com

See here: http://www.classiccmp.org/bitsavers/pdf/hp/disc/5955-3442_cs80-is-pm.pdf On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 11:10:58 -0600, Stephen Fisher <sfisher10(a)cox.net> wrote: > I ran across a message at > http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctech/2003-February/010332.html where > you mention that you had a CS/80 specification. Do you by chance still have > that or know where I could find it? > > Thanks > Stephen > >

20 years, 7 months

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hp 9121 (cctalk Vol 16, Issue 6)

by vp＠cs.drexel.edu

Natalia <nataliac(a)uvigo.es> wrote: > I have a Dual Disk Drive HP 9121 that is cabled to an HP 9816 whith > operative system HP Basic 2.0. When I copy or save file or program put > the message "error 88: read data error". Can you help me? What is the > Problem? You can get the manual for the 9121 at http://www.series80.org/Manuals/index.html#HP9121 But I suspect that the problem is a dirty R/W head on the drive. You do not mention whether you have the 2 drive model (9121D) and whether you have the same error message when you try accessing the second drive. If you only have the prob with the first drive, then its almost certainly a dirty R/W head inside the drive. Have you tried cleaning the heads? The easiest way is to try to find a cleaning diskette (usu available for PCs). Such diskettes usually have an extra hole across from the WRITE-PROTECT tab. You have to cover this (extra) hole with some tape (black electrician's tape will do) and then the cleaning diskette will be usable with the 9121. Best Regards **vp

20 years, 7 months

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trailing-edge.com down?

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 4 2004, 13:57, Seth Morabito wrote: > I've just re-joined the lists after a... uh, something like a four > year absense, I guess! It's good to be back, even if it is a little > more verbose than I remember. Welcome back :-) > I looked through the recent archives and didn't see this covered > already, forgive me if I missed it -- I've been unable to contact > www.trailing-edge.com or simh.trailing-edge.com for the last week > or so. Tim posted a note on alt.folklore.computers about a week ago, to say: The web-accessible archives at trailing-edge.com, namely simh.trailing-edge.com pdp-10.trailing-edge.com pdp-11.trailing-edge.com etc. are down due to windstorm activity yesterday. With a little luck things may be back up early next week (week of Nov 29 - Dec 3). Realistically there are a lot of trees and wires down and hooking back up to the interweb may take a while. The SIMH and pdp-11 stuff as of July 2004 is mirrored at http://bitsavers.org/simh.trailing-edge.com/ http://bitsavers.org/pdp-11.trailing-edge.com/ Unfortunately bitsavers is also down, but Jay has a mirror at classiccmp: http://www.classiccmp.org/bitsavers/simh.trailing-edge.com/ http://www.classiccmp.org/bitsavers/pdp-11.trailing-edge.com/ I'm not surprised you couldn't find anything, it's just taken me 15 minutes, and I knew what I was looking for! -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

20 years, 7 months

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HP diagnostic configurator help

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

Are there any cards which should never be used as the target for the basic I/O pretest (P=2) of the Diagnostic Configurator? I seem to recall there was one... but I'm finding several different cards which give trap cell halts but otherwise seem to work fine (passing diagnostics). Would this indicate a problem with the priority chain? Thanks in advance! Jay

20 years, 7 months

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test-drb December 2004